The Canberra Times is reporting that the Liberals have begun to question the value of continuing with the un-accountable Australian Federal Police providing “policing outcomes” to the ACT. (Sadly the article doesn’t reflect on the drawback on the same force collecting the data which determines those outcomes).
This has been brought on by the recent woefull lack of transparency on a number of cases. Personally I’m aware of former Ministers for Police from both sides of politics lamenting in public (albeit off the record) their inability to get ACT Policing to do anything.
But the Chief Police Officer sums up what the AFP thinks is a good level of accountability in this very article.
Chief police officer Audrey Fagan backed Mr Hargreaves, saying the police purchase agreement ensured that the service was accountable to the ACT police minister on an annual basis.
ANNUAL?
annual |ˈanyoÅÉ™l|
adjective
occurring once every year
So once a year is enough for this tiresome accountability business? The police of Canberra should be accountable to the ACT Assembly every single day of the year.
In any event, if the ACT can’t credibly suggest an alternative, we’ve got no sort of position at the negotiating table. For that alone it would be worth working up alternative arrangements even if, in the end, they aren’t pursued.
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